For the fourth year in a row, the City of Knoxville will grant a total of $500,000 to owners of historic residential or commercial buildings through its Historic Preservation Fund Program.

On Wednesday, September 12, 2018 The City of Knoxville Community Development Department released the request for proposals (RFP) for the 2019 Funding for Improvements to Historic Buildings fund. 

Proposals will be accepted through 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. You can read the Request for Proposals, Addendums and Proposals Submitted.

A mandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 in the Community Room at the City of Knoxville Public Works Center at 3131 Morris Avenue. (Your proposal will not be considered if you missed this meeting.)

Mayor Madeline Rogero created the Historic Preservation Fund with an initial commitment of $500,000 in the 2014-15 budget, and an additional $500,000 has been funded by City Council each year since. The fund is intended to help fill financing gaps for renovation of historic properties within city limits. 

Applicants must own the property, which may be residential or commercial and located within the city limits. Funding will be secured by a deed of trust on the property. 


The following construction projects have received grants:

2018

• The Dempster Building, $200,000, located at 611 - 617 North Central St.
This project will include restoration and development of two, long-vacant buildings into a mixed-use development to include residential units and commercial tenants. Built in 1895 as the W.C. McCoy Livery, it was one of the first buildings in what was known as the Central Market area. In the 1920s, it housed Dempster Construction Company and Dempster Motor Company, owned by George Dempster, who served as Knoxville Mayor 1952-1955 and invented the Dempster Dumpster.

• Baker Creek Bottoms (former Sevier Heights Baptist Church), $150,000, located at 3700 Lancaster Dr.
The church’s large sanctuary will be developed as an event and performing arts venue. The smaller, original sanctuary is being restored to house a restaurant utilizing funding from last round.

• Former Tex Ten Printing Supplies, $100,000, located at 1520 Washington Ave.
Originally a grocery store, the building will be restored and developed as a new home for three businesses in the Park City neighborhood’s historic commercial district.

• Architects Weeks Ambrose McDonald, Inc., $45,000, located at 30 Market Square
Funding will be used for structural repairs to both walls shared with neighboring buildings. 

• Mabry-Hazen House and Meek Cottage, $27,770.60, located at 1711 Dandridge Ave.
Funding will be used for additional renovation and restoration of windows, siding, and porch repair for the historic home. 

• Blount Mansion, $21,383, located at 200 W. Hill Ave. 
The Blount Mansion Association will use the funding to restore the windows of the home, which was constructed between 1792 and approximately 1820.


2017

• Baker Creek Bottoms Chapel, $150,000, former Sevier Heights Baptist Church, at Lancaster Dr.
• Former Rayl School property, $150,000, site of now-closed Free Service Tire, at 300 Magnolia Ave.
• Cal Johnson Building, $100,000, located at 301 State St. 
• Crafty Bastard Brewery, $47,010, located at 6 Emory Place
• Keeton’s Jewelers Building, $40,031, located at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
• Downtown YMCA, $36,521, located at 605 Clinch Ave.
• Bijou Theatre, $33,903, located at 803 S. Gay St.
• Mabry-Hazen House, $16,393, for guest house front porch, window restoration and caretaker cottage back porch at 1711 Dandridge Ave. 
• Knox Heritage, $9,900, for National Register of Historic Places nomination applications for Pryor Brown Garage and Emory Place Historic District extension
• Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church Parsonage, $8,649, located at 2700 E. Magnolia Ave.
• Lawhorn Cottage on Prospect Place, $2,600, for National Register of Historic Places nomination application


2016

• Bijou Theatre, repaired interior stairwell and new HVAC system at 803 S. Gay St. - 
• Craighead-Jackson House, located at 1000 State St.
• First Christian Church, located at 211 W. Fifth Ave.
• Historic Riverhouse, located at 614 W. Hill Ave.
• Keener Building, located at 701 World’s Fair Park Drive
• Knox Heritage, for National Register administrative grant
• Lloyd Branson House Phase II, for new windows and dormers above the front porch styled to match the home's original design at 1423 Branson Ave. 
• Mabry-Hazen House, for restoration at 1711 Dandridge Ave. 
• Tennessee Theatre, for new marquee outfitted with LED lights at 604 S. Gay St. 


2015

• Alfred Buffat Homestead, for foundation and structural repair at 1717 Loves Creek Road
• Kern's Bakery Building, for new façade at 2110 Chapman Highway
• Lloyd Branson House Phase I, located at 1423 Branson Ave. 
• McMillan Flats, located at 507 N. Central St.
• Metropolitan Planning Commission, to help inventory mid-century neighborhoods and buildings as prospective candidates for the National Register of Historic Places.
• Park City Presbyterian Church, for new roof and gutters on the main building at 2204 Linden Ave. 



Learn More About the Historic Preservation Fund:

• City Names Recipients of Historic Preservation Funds (2017-18 Budget) - 02/16/2018
• City Seeking Applicants for Historic Preservation Funds (2017-18 Budget) - 09/13/2017
• City Names Recipients of Historic Preservation Funds (2016-17 Budget) - 05/24/2017
• Historic Preservation Fund: Mandatory Meeting and Status Update - 01/06/2017
• Deadlines Set for Historic Preservation Grant Process - 12/23/2016
• City Awards Historic Preservation Funds (2015-16 Budget) to 9 Projects - 05/19/2016
• City Seeking Applicants for $500,000 in Historic Preservation Funds (2014-15 Budget) - 11/09/2015
• Mayor Rogero Proposes $206M Budget with Increased Funding for Infrastructure - 04/29/2015